09 February 2021

Could You Repeat That? CLXXXIV

A Conspiracy of Kings, Megan Whalen Turner, x2
"The simplest way to end the war is to admit you have lost it."
The silence after that was not polite.

Thick as Thieves, Megan Whalen Turner, x2
I had my life, I reminded myself. I had my freedom. I had followed others' directions long enough. But my thoughts were like birds that wouldn't settle, flying around my head.

Return of the Thief, Megan Whalen Turner
The king's attendants had watched, open-mouthed, as he'd thrown his practice sword aside, rushed directly at the wall, and gone straight up it--as if the power that pulls all things toward the Earth had tipped on its side just for him.

Trophies and Dead Things, Marcia Muller
My original plan for the chaise had been as a place to lie down and relax while I thought through difficult cases. What I mainly did, however, was pile things on it.

Ignite the Stars, Maura Milan
That night, she dreamed she stood in the middle of a path, staring in one direction and then the other. Her foot came up, preparing to take a step. She woke before she could see where her foot had decided to land.

Guide to Troubled Birds, Matt Adrian
If you see an owl, or suspect someone who may be an owl, play dead immediately, and play it like you're whoring for an Emmy.

Halo, Zizou Corder
'Excuse me for mentioning it, but aren't you a Centaur?'
'Well spotted,' said Arko. 'And are you perhaps an Athenian?'
'None other,' said the wagoner. 'You can always tell us by our superior wit.'

A Dead Djinn in Cairo, P Djeli Clark
First unwritten rule of investigation--when in need of information, make sure you flatter your source. In that regard, immortals were no different than anyone else.

Troubles in Paradise, Elin Hildebrand
Nester pokes his head out of the market. "You okay?" he asks Baker. "Need any help?"
"I need help!" Dunk says. "He's attacking me!"
Nester goes back inside.

The Vanishing Half, Brit Bennett
Her death hit in waves. Not a flood, but water lapping steadily at her ankles.
You could drown in two inches of water. Maybe grief was the same.



With the Fire on High, Elizabeth Acevedo
We look beautiful and hood and excited to see the world, and none of us are hiding from this world seeing us. All of us shining despite what it took us to earn our way here.

The Night Tiger, Yangsze Choo
My mother's debts, Ming's marriage, and my lack of a future were cold weights on a string of bad luck. And that wasn't even counting the mummified bottled finger tucked at the very bottom of my traveling basket.

The Temptation of Forgiveness, Donna Leon
'That innocent people be protected. That's what laws are meant to do,' he said. Brunetti, in his heart, didn't believe this: laws, passed by the people in power, were meant to keep them in power. If they also protected innocent people, well and good, but that was nothing more than a welcome side effect.

Pennies on a Dead Woman’s Eyes, Marcia Muller
"I think that we allow ourselves not to count--by letting it get us down, by giving up. And I think we can count--if we get angry enough, brave enough, or maybe are just stupid enough to believe we can make a difference."

Marque and Reprisal, Elizabeth Moon
"I hate age. Wisdom--assuming you gain any--is not enough to trade for the youthful ability to stay up two days running and still remember things."

The Wife Upstairs, Rachel Hawkins
Why should she have to look out for anyone else when she'd always win?
That probably sounds bitter, but I don't mean it that way. If anything, I was in awe of her. At first, at least. Before the murders.

Head Over Heels, Hannah Orenstein
It strikes me as heartbreakingly unfair that the one person who would lift my spirits best is also the person who crushed them.

Eclipse the Skies, Maura Milan
"You know, on my list of things I've always wanted to do, this was high up there."
"Sending a wormhole to another universe into a black hole?" Knives said.
"Yep," Goner said. "You never thought of it?"

Artemis, Andy Weir
There was a certain pride in knowing I caused an entire company to shit themselves.

In a Holidaze, Christina Lauren
Across the yard, I think I spot the snow-covered branch that cracked me on the head, and I point at it, growling, "You will not get me tomorrow, you fucker."

Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning, Cathy Park Hong
The ethnic literary project has always been a humanist project in which nonwhite writers must prove they are human beings who feel pain.

Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race, Reni Eddo-Lodge
Waiting for unity is just inviting inertia.

So You Want to Talk About Race, Ijeoma Uluo
Cultural appropriation is the product of a society that prefers its culture cloaked in whiteness.

Sabriel, Garth Nix, x2
Touchstone watched the villagers; Mogget watched a piece of fish; Sabriel closed her eyes, questing outward with other senses, trying to feel the presence of the dead.

Storm Front, Jim Butcher
Smiling always seems to annoy people more than actually insulting them. Or maybe I just have an annoying smile.

There's Something in a Sunday, Marcia Muller
The house was flanked by yew trees--or perhaps, I thought, shrouded was a better word than flanked, considering Sallie Hyde's name for them, funeral trees.

How to be an Antiracist, Ibram X Kendi
Capitalism is essential racist; racism is essentially capitalist. They were birthed together from the same unnatural causes, and they shall one day die together of unnatural causes.

Trading in Danger, Elizabeth Moon
"Of course we didn't do autopsies. We know exactly what killed them. I killed them."

Resistance Reborn, Rebecca Roanhorse
"Redemption?" she said, eyes cutting to Suralinda. "As if they deserve it."
"Not redemption," Poe said. "Penance."

Unto Us a Son Is Given, Donna Leon
Both of them were shocked by the terrible suddenness of it: one moment walking, next moment dead. It ran counter to everything life had shown them so far. Life was not meant to be merciless. They hadn't lived long enough to understand what grace it was to die in an instant and not to linger.

Ella Enchanted, Gail Carson Levine
Outside, a huge pumpkin stood uselessly in the line of carriages. I continued to flee.

Star Wars: Doctor Aphra, Volume 1: Aphra, Kieron Gillan
APHRA: Triple-Zero. If I was interested in moral instruction from an emotionless killer, I'd have kept working for Darth Vader.

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